As the Spartans slowly began to prepare for a possible assault at Military Outpost Gamma Twelve, the battle plan for the UNSC was slowly beginning to come into play. Already, the Scorpion battle tanks and M12 LRVs were in position, surrounding the outpost and hidden between the large rocky hills. They just waited for everyone's mission clock to hit 7:00, then all hell would break lose. Samuel was sitting in the side seat of Shadow One, the call sign given to the command 'Hog. Just beside him was Vice Admiral Jameson's Warthog. He had decided to drive instead of shoot. Beside him was Special Ops sniper, Corporal Ryan McConnell, who shouldered a S2 AM sniper rifle. Jameson looked at him.

"Anything there Corporal?" he asked. McConnell slowly scanned the wall of the outpost and shook his head.

"I don't see anything. They have their usual three sentries, but that's it" he said. Jameson looked over at Sam who shrugged. They wouldn't be a problem once the artillery raids started. He glanced at his own clock, which read 6:58. Slowly, the sun was peeping over the horizon and beginning to shed light on the rock wasteland. Jameson activated his radio.

"All right people, here we go, let's waste these assholes" he said. A few people answered with cheers of approval, or didn't say anything at all. Nevertheless, Sam knew they were ready. Suddenly, all of their mission clocks beeped as the numbers struck 7:00. No sooner did the clocks stop beeping, the sound of high speed engines could be heard overhead. Sam looked up and watched a cluster of eight dots in the sky fly down and become large Longsword intercept fighters. Sam grinned.

Spartan-255; Barry heard the sound of engines before anyone else did. He had been doing his patrol route across the middle of the courtyard, but this sound made him stop in his tracks. He looked up into the sky and his mouth dropped open. Before he could even make a sound, sixteen Devilhorn bombs were released from the Longswords and smashed into the outpost. All Barry saw was a flash of light, and then he was engulfed in the resulting explosions.

The sound of the bombs hitting the ground could be heard from anywhere. Josh looked up from his armor that he was strapping on and then activated his radio.

"To arms!" he yelled, fastening his helmet on and rushing out the armory door, MA7B battle rifle in his hand.

The Longswords completed another pass, then when back up to rearm. The moment their last bomb was dropped on the outpost, Jameson gave the order for the tanks to move up. Six Scorpion tanks slowly trudged up their hills, stopped and opened fire. The High Velocity canons let loose six depleted 107mm uranium shells, which all detonated along the wall surrounding the base. Sam watched through a sniper rifle he had acquired as the ten feet high wall began to crumble. The Scorpions then targeted the main entrance and fired. The solid titanium doors were blown wide open, scattering wreckage and fire into the compound below. Sam saw the large opening and tossed his sniper rifle aside.

"Charge!" he yelled into his radio, patting the Helljumper Corporal in the driver's seat on the shoulder. Immediately, all thirty-two Warthogs sped forward over the hill and stormed down the field, firing their LAAG chain guns. Sam was in the lead 'Hog, a Jackhammer in his hands. He watched a single Spartan hefting a sniper rifle appear on the wall, but he fired off a quick round, which slammed right into him.

Josh rushed out of the hangar and looked at the devastation in front of him. The entire interior compound had been blown into large gashes and craters in the ground. The sentry units he had put on guard lay scattered around the area, base, dead. Josh watched a Spartan sniper suddenly explode in blood as a Jackhammer rocket slammed through him and detonated onto the base. Growling, he assembled his Spartans.

"Get on the walls and shoot whatever moves!" he roared into his radio. Twenty-seven Spartans rushed out of the hangar and climbed the ladders onto the catwalk along the wall. They held a wide assortment of weapons, including Jackhammer launchers. As they engaged the enemy, Josh turned to the next group of Spartans emerging from the hangar.

Sam watched dozens of Spartans appear on the wall and open fire at the Warthogs. As his Warthog swerved from left to right, he contacted the Scorpion tanks to put some fire on their position. A heart beat afterwards, six uranium shells slammed into the walls, killing dozens of Spartans. However, more took their place and open fired with Jackhammer launchers. 107mm rockets flew at the Warthog brigade, blowing four up and flipping two others. Sam fired his own Jackhammer and killed two Spartans trying to drag a wounded Spartan off the wall. Suddenly, another group of Spartans appeared and strapped themselves into the wall mounted gun turrets that had yet to be destroyed. Immediately, traces of chain gun ammo flew at the Warthogs, along with MD-HAP grenades. Two more Warthogs detonated in a ball of fire. The Warthog beside Sam's took a hit to its tire. It flipped right over and smashed into the 'Hog behind Sam's. Bullets sprayed across the windshield, forcing Sam to duck as his shields flared. The Scorpion tanks fired, but four of the shells missed. The remaining two hit the walls, killing a few Spartans.

"This is Dagger One, we are inbound to the target area, red hot" came the voice of First Lieutenant Joe Graham, leader of the flight of Longswords flying bombing runs.

"Roger that Dagger One" replied Sam and ordered the brigade to slow down. Not a second later, more Devilhorn bombs smashed into the compound, killing Spartans moving across it. The Longswords turned sharply and dropped off their last load of bombs right onto the wall of the outpost. Sam watched as the titanium wall crumbled and exploded into pieces, blasting Spartans into pieces and destroying the turrets. Grinning, Sam ordered a full out charge and the Warthogs moved into the base.

Josh dove backwards as the last bomb dropped from the Longswords detonated in front of him, engulfing two young Spartans he had sent out. Swearing, he tossed two frags at the Warthogs rushing into the base. Two of them flipped over from the resulting explosions. He then retreated back inside the hangar, where another group of his Spartans were ready in the outpost's compliment of Warthogs and Scorpion tanks. Josh jumped into the gunner seat of a Warthog and ordered their compliment of vehicles to move out. They spilled out of the hangar, firing at the oncoming Warthog assault.

Sam watched the vehicles rush out of the hangar and fired his last two Jackhammer rounds. They hit two Warthogs, blowing them backwards. The Scorpion tanks fired their artillery assault again, and destroyed a good number of the vehicles. But there were still lots left and more ammunition slammed into their army. The gunner of the Warthog behind his slumped over dead, forcing the marine in the side seat to climb over and strap himself in. However, as he did, the driver swerved to avoid a Jackhammer rocket, and the marine flew right out, and was run over by four additional Warthogs. A salvo of Scorpion shells slammed into infiltrating Warthogs, killing marines and six more 'Hogs. Slowly, their numbers were beginning to dwindle, but Sam wasn't going to give up. His 'Hog flew over the destroyed wall and ran over a Spartan retreating backwards. The Shadow Spartan fired his MA5B assault rifle at a Warthog and watched the gunner fall over, dead. More Warthogs drove in, accompanied by Vice Admiral Jameson's Warthog, who lead the charge behind Sam. They strafed back and forth, interchanging lines of fire being created. The air was filled with ammunition and lead as the two forces shot at each other. The Spartans had more experience and eliminated a good half of the UNSC force, yet the UNSC had more people than them and used this power to send a tidal wave of fire power at the remaining vehicles. A Warthog flipped over, slamming into a Spartan Scorpion tank, which fired, hitting the Warthog and blew the two of them up. The last Scorpion tank fired a single round at the UNSC tanks still barraging the compound with explosive shells. The single 107mm shell slammed into one of the tanks, destroying it and killing three marines. The remaining five began moving down the field, firing their own canons. The last Spartan tank exploded after being hit by at least four tanks shots and even more Warthogs.

Josh watched the last tank explode, and then ordered a retreat. He fired the last of the chain gun's bullets at a Warthog, killing the driver, and then jumped out and rushed inside the hangar, firing his battle rifle at the strafing Warthogs. Only seven Spartans joined him. The eight of them quickly tossed a few more frag grenades, and then rushed inside the base.

As the remaining Spartan vehicles were abandoned, Sam jumped out of his Warthog and searched the remains of the compound with additional UNSC forces. The tanks rolled into the base and fired their canons inside the hangar, blowing open the wall and killing two Spartans who had been left behind there. The tanks came to a halt and under the command of Admiral Jameson, were positioned around the compound. The Warthogs were all abandoned and the surviving Helljumpers gathered around Jameson.

"Okay, phase one of the plan is completely gentlemen, we've taken control of the compound. It's obvious the Spartans weren't prepared for this phase, but for phase two, they will give us everything they got. The Special Ops dropships are coming in now. You men man your vehicles and if anything that is wearing green armor walks out of the base, shoot it" he said. A cheer arose from the survivors and the Helljumpers fanned out to their vehicles. As they did, Sam checked the casualty figures.

Out of thirty-two Warthogs, they had nineteen left, not including three 'Hogs that had been flipped or their occupants had all been killed. Infantry casualties rated in the hundreds, which worried Sam. If they needed backup, they wouldn't be able to spare a lot of ODSTs. Nevertheless, Sam was confident in the thirty soldiers that made up the Special Ops force that would be moving through the facility with him.

No sooner did he put away the data pad; three Pelican dropships descended into the compound and unloaded two more Warthogs, another Scorpion tank and the Special Ops force known as the "Iron Raiders." Their leader, Major Adam Chambers saluted at Vice Admiral Jameson, who pointed to Sam. The men and women of the force marched over and stood at attention. Chambers saluted Sam.

"Sir, Iron Raiders reporting for duty" he said briskly. Sam nodded and returned the salute.

"Thank you Major, at ease everybody, let's make this quick" he said. The Special Ops relaxed and stared at Sam as he outlined the interior battle plan.

"This is a rough sketch of the base. As you can clearly see, most of the base is inside this mountain. The base consists of five levels, each connected by two or three elevators. The Spartans are most likely spread out all over the place, so we will be splitting up into groups. Six person fire teams, which means five groups, one group for each level. Since the Spartan numbers have been reduced a lot, you won't encounter a large group of them. If you do, fall back and wait for reinforcements. Major Chambers will be in charge of Team One, which is exploring the first level and control tower. Lieutenant Hayes, you are leading Team Two. Lieutenant Scott, in charge of Team Three, Master Sergeant McGrath, Team Four, First Sergeant O'Neill, Team Five, and finally, I will be leading Team Six. Got it?" The entire group of Special Ops nodded at Sam, none of them asking a question. Major Chambers barked out several orders and they all dispersed into their various fire teams. Sam was then faced with five Special Ops soldiers, who stood at attention. Sam looked at each of them and they called out their names.

"Sergeant Abe Reynolds sir!"

"Sir, Corporal John Lawley"

"Corporal Bryan Andrews, reporting for duty!"

"Corporal Jose Dela Cruz sir"

"Sir, Corporal David Elliott, reporting for duty." Sam nodded and saluted at each of them, then told them all to take a knee.

"All right, listen up; we have the hardest of the five levels. Our objectives are too wipe out all the Spartans and rescue Laura Culling. Miss Culling is located on the floor we are supposed to search, which means you can bet there will be a lot of security around her. The fifth floor is designated as Barracks D-12. There is only one elevator that leads down to it and thankfully, I know which one it is. When the door opens, we will arrive in the mess hall, which will most likely have a large amount of Spartans guarding it. Use the tables and chairs as cover. Try not to use grenades; there are too many obstacles in the room, which could deflect the grenade back at us. We take out the Spartans there; search the rest of the Barracks just in case, then move into a pantry behind the kitchen. This is where Laura is being held. We take out however is left in there, grab the package, and leave immediately. If things get too messy, we will call for ODST support, but I have confidence that we will be fine" Sam explained. "Arm yourselves with assault weapons only. I know some of you have designated weapons you have to use, but sniper rifles and Jackhammers aren't the best to use in this kind of close quarter combat. Assault rifles, SMG 900s and Battle rifles are the main choice here folks." The members of his group nodded. When no hands were raised for questions, they moved to a large ammunition pile that was being gathered near a cluster of wreckage from the wall. Two ODSTs stood around it and were handing out ammo clips and weapons. Sam approached one of them, when suddenly, the man's head exploded, splattering them all with blood and brains. Following that, the second ODST let out a scream as his shoulder was blown right apart and his arm flew off.

"Snipers above!" screamed a nearby. Sam looked up at the control room and watched four Jackhammer rounds fly towards four Warthogs. The occupants jumped out, just as the rockets slammed into them, destroying the jeeps and blasting the Helljumpers around it flying. The air was soon thick with gun fire again as Spartans positioned in the control tower opened fire on the UNSC forces below. Lances of bullets flew along the ground and cut down marines gathering their weapons. Sam tossed a frag grenade all the way inside. A second later, they heard a dull thump, and then two Spartans flew out of the destroyed windows and plummeted to the ground below. However, there were still more, who fired another salvo of Jackhammer rockets. A Scorpion tank exploded, killing two marines in the process. Another marine was blasted right off his feet from a rocket that slammed in front of him. Quickly, Sam rushed forward; tossing two more frag grenades, then rushed toward the hangar.

"Special Ops, let's move!" he yelled into his radio. The Iron Raiders rushed after him, firing random shots at the tower above them. They all gathered inside the hangar, split up into their groups, and then moved inside the structure, Sam in the lead. It was time for revenge and victory...